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The 7th Victim (Karen Vail Series) by Alan Jacobson
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Alan Jacobson Edition: Mass Market Paperback Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published) Published: 2009-08-11 ISBN: 1593155468 Number of pages: 448 Publisher: Vanguard Press
Book Reviews of The 7th Victim (Karen Vail Series)Book Review: Prepare to Be Abused! Summary: 3 Stars
I thought Alan Jacobson has a produced a pretty good book with the 7th Victim. The writing is well paced, interspersed with action and drama. The characters are not too unique, and the setting is fairly formula for crime fiction. Still, strong female leads are something few people grow tired of, and crime fiction is always going to have a stereotyped setting. Otherwise, it would be distracting from what you want to read about: the crime and how they solved it. The 7th Victim delivers fairly well based on realistic expectations.
To me, the most unique part of this novel is the abuse. The antagonist was abused as a child. He abuses his victims post mortem. The protagonist is physically abused by her husband. The protagonist's husband abuses her son. The protagonist physically abuses her husband. The abuse just goes on and on in this story, and it is sort of like a slap in the face you will keep finding in unexpected places.
The tension of abuse and its consequences is generally enough to keep you distracted from the rather typical serial killer chase. It kept me interested in the story and guessing "who dunnit." There were enough obligatory false leads that crop up along the way, in part fueled by all the abuse, that keep you guessing a lot. Yet, these guesses lack conviction, because it is pretty clear by the style of writing that none of these leads are the killer. This is true to the bitter end, even with a rather significant red herring...
Jacobson takes a huge risk by the hidden relations aspect of the plot; it is unbelievable enough to lose a few readers. I personally was still reeling from the abuse when I am hit with this bizarre hidden relative revelation. I was shocked! After I finished the book and thought about it, I realized that this is the most highly contrived aspect of the whole plot. Yet while reading, I was already hooked, just didn't care, and found it more interesting. If you are a more cerebral and less emotional reader, then this whole thing will fall flat.
Overall, it was a good book. It was too contrived for a four star rating, although my enjoyment of it would probably more accurately rate a four star. When reflecting on the book, I just couldn't get over the fact that the contrived hidden relations are what made the story more enjoyable, and without them, the book would have been more bland. That's a weak leg to stand on, since a thoughtful reader would find it detracting.
I found it enjoyable, but overall an okay book.
Summary of The 7th Victim (Karen Vail Series)The Dead Eyes Killer lurks in the backyard of the famed FBI Profiling Unit. His brutal murders, unlike any others previously seen, confound the local task force, despite the gifted profiling skills of Special Agent Karen Vail. But along with Vail‘s insight and expertise comes considerable personal and professional baggage. On leave pending a review of her assault on her abusive ex-husband, Vail must battle forces determined to bring her down, as she fights to find Dead Eyes before he murders more young women. But the seventh victim is the key to all that stirs this killer...the key that will unlock secrets perhaps too painful for Vail to bear. These are secrets that threaten to destroy her, secrets that will bring down her storied and promising career. For Karen Vail, the truth rests at the heart of a lie. And uncovering it could get her killed... With material meticulously researched during seven years of study with the Bureau?s vaunted profiling unit, Alan Jacobson brings refreshing realism and unprecedented accuracy to his pages, as he takes readers behind the scenes of the FBI Academy, where he worked with the actual profilers who have studied and interviewed twenty years? worth of serial killers.
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